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Seda Ghukasyan

Bright Armenia MP Calls for Fact-Finding Commission Re: Artsakh War

Bright Armenia MP Harutyun Babayan says that a fact-finding commission must be set up to review how the recent war in Artsakh was conducted.

Babayan told Hetq that military and government officials cannot evade responsibility for their shortcomings simply by resigning.

The MP said that he left for Armenia’s Syunik Province and Artsakh during the fighting to see how he could help the war effort.

Regarding military shortcomings, Babayan says that those defending Armenia’s southern town of Meghri contacted the Ministry of Defense about the need of artillery. Babayan said those calls went unanswered.

"There were some aberrations during the hostilities, and they led to disorganization and a lack of feedback or incorrect coordination. The enemy completely controlled our conduct, rupturing our communications between detachments and bases,” says   Babayan.

The MP says that officials should not leave Armenia and answer questions posed to them rather than refusing to do so.

He mentioned Syunik Province Governor Hunan Poghosyan as one official who needs to stay at home and account for his actions during the war.

Harutyun Babayan is hopeful that the former commander of the Defense Army Jalal Harutyunyan will recover quickly and will present his analysis to the public.

He called for a reorganization of the country’s military in order to defend the newly drawn borders, adding that the war isn’t over, and that Armenia’s neighbors still have designs on the country.

Babayan said Azerbaijan waged a modern war that Armenia wasn’t ready for. He said that the Armenian government failed to learn the lessons culled from the April 2016 war.

He also charged the Pashinyan government for dragging its feet on the POW and MIA issue.

"The families of the captives and the missing are meeting with the Azerbaijani soldiers in the presence of Russian peacekeepers, trying to make a deal. People are looking for ways to find their relatives. If the state were strong, it would take the initiative. Citizens are taking matters in their own hands.”

Babayan says the state apparatus is still in a state of shock, unable to respond promptly to the existing realities.

He says that even now, the government is straddled with a bureaucratic process that delays the immediate resolution of today’s issues.

Babayan gave the example of a soldier who lost a leg in the war. Instead of granting the soldier disability status on the spot, he was told that a medical commission who have to first review his case.

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